Prosecutor presses inner circle on Gadhafi arrest

International Criminal Court Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo speaks during a press conference at the ICC in The Hague, Netherlands, Tuesday June 28, 2011. Luis Moreno-Ocampo is urging Moammar Gadhafi's own aides to arrest the Libyan leader and turn him over for trial on murder and persecution charges.His appeal Tuesday came the day after the court issued arrest warrants for Gadhafi, his son Seif and intelligence chief Abdullah al-Sanoussi for crimes against humanity.

THE HAGUE, Netherlands — The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court urged Moammar Gadhafi's own aides Tuesday to arrest the Libyan leader and turn him over for trial on murder and persecution charges — or risk prosecution themselves.

As battles raged through a fifth month between Gadhafi's forces and rebels backed by NATO air strikes, prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo was optimistic that Gadhafi's regime would be over within two or three months. "Gadhafi will face justice," he said.

On Monday, the court issued arrest warrants for the Libyan leader, his son Seif and intelligence chief Abdullah al-Sanoussi for crimes against humanity. But the court has no police force, and relies on the law enforcement agencies of the 115 countries that ratified the court's founding statute.

Libya is not a member, but Moreno-Ocampo advised Gadhafi's inner circle to arrest their leader. They "can be part of the problem and be prosecuted or they can be part of the solution — work together with other Libyans and stop the crimes," he told reporters at the court.

NATO forces operating in Libyan skies have no mandate to arrest suspects, he said. And NATO itself has said it does not want to put combat forces on the ground. The prosecutor said the other option for arresting Gadhafi is through the rebels fighting to end his more than four decades in power.

The court's enforcement problems were underscored this week by the trip to China by Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who was charged last year by the international court with genocide in Darfur. China is a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, which authorized the court to investigate the Darfur conflict.

"China is not a signatory of the ICC ... and we reserve our opinion on the ICC's prosecution of al-Bashir," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told a news conference in Beijing. The United States also is not a signatory to the court's statute.

But Moreno-Ocampo is confident the international consensus to remove Gadhafi is stronger than in the case of Darfur and he was upbeat about his chances of getting Gadhafi.

"If we have enough energy within the states, in two, three months it's game over," he said.

Gadhafi's regime has rejected the court's authority and dismissed the charges as politically motivated.

"This court is nothing but a cover for the military operations of NATO," said Justice Minister Mohammed al-Qamudi. "The ICC does not really mean anything for us Libyans because we are not party to it and because it's merely a political tool for exerting pressure and political blackmail against sovereign countries. ... It has become clear that it's a tool of imperialism."

Thousands of Libyans poured into Liberty Square in the eastern rebel stronghold of Benghazi after the court's decision was announced Monday, with women ululating and dancing and several men shooting celebratory gunfire in the air. The square echoed with chants of: "The blood of the martyrs will not be wasted" and "Freedom is here. Today we win."

Presiding Judge Sanji Monageng of Botswana said Gadhafi and his inner circle reacted to uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt by mapping out a "state policy ... aimed at deterring and quelling by any means — including by the use of lethal force — demonstrations by civilians against the regime."

Hundreds of civilians were killed, injured or arrested in the last two weeks of February, and there were "reasonable grounds to believe" that Gadhafi and his supporters were responsible for the murder and persecution of civilians as well as attempting to cover up the crimes, she said.

Moreno-Ocampo said Tuesday his office is investigating the cover-up attempts as well as reports of widespread rapes by pro-Gadhafi forces. But he said he had not been able yet to directly link Gadhafi to the rape allegations.

Moreno-Ocampo said there should be urgent negotiations over the future of Gadhafi and his regime, but he said there must be "clear legal limits" to any talks. It must be clear that any ICC member country should arrest him if he travels to its territory.